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Leon Faucet
Biography Pre-War Leon lived a happy life before the Seven Hour War. He never liked to talk about his past much for reasons unbeknownst to anyone but himself, but what he did talk of was a life of politics. Leading came as a natural to him from a young age; a skill that resulted in him eventually becoming an American state congressman. His parents moved from the country they'd lived all their lives - France - to America while Leon was still of a young age. He took to the English language like a fish to water and spent much time dabbling in American culture, food and women. He hadn't a clue what he wanted to be for a large portion of his life, but as chance would have it he found himself as a politician. Leon found education no difficult part of his life as he went through University to major in politics, and later ethics. As good as Leon was at managing time and work, he found himself a little overwhelmed by his career as the years closer to the Seven Hour War drew near. It was only when he needed support most that he found his true love: a pretty French girl named Claire whose story differed not too much from his own. Claire gave Leon the shoulder he needed to lean on when he was finding his work tough, and the two made a brilliant team. Leon's list of joys continued to grow as Claire declared herself pregnant in late 2005. She gave birth to twins the next year: Toby and Simon. Leon vowed to raise them with the same integrity and love his father had shown to him all his years as a child. As fast as the loves of his life had come into being, they were snatched away. The Combine invaded without warning, without resistance. In seven hours, the entire planet fell into a darkness unrecorded in history. Leon's wife and his children were taken from him, never to be seen again. To his final days he never learned of their fate. He was left alone, broken and defeated in an unforgiving world and stripped bare of the power he'd worked all his life towards having. After a number of unsuccessful suicide attempts, Leon forced himself forward. He'd never been one to simply give up – this was just another unfortunate situation that he could overcome with positivity. Broken soul or not, Leon Faucet was going to make something of himself in a world without light. Personality And Skills Leon had a very misrepresented personality – that is to say, his grandeur was often embellished as most political figures' are. The beliefs he put forward as his own were not necessarily what he valued. Though he never spoke of it to anyone else he was strongly against the use of the suppression field in City 18. He did his job well as head of public relations for over ten years and wouldn't argue if one said that he loved his job. His life was filled with regrets and it was a rare occurrence indeed when he let any of his true feelings slip through the cracks of the shell he'd spent all his Combine-occupied life setting up. To any civilian in his office he was very politically-correct; half of his meetings were riddled with quotes used many-a-time before. He was a scared man. All of his speeches were carefully crafted to paint the Combine in the most fantastic light possible, and he was very good at turning the city against the cause of the Resistance. Though at times it would seem otherwise, Leon did care for the people. They were as human as him: they felt fear, pain, anguish and regret. Perhaps the reason why he exceeded in his position of head of public relations was for the simple fact that he could relate to the people, that he did care about their well-being. Post-War Career Leon's success as a Civil Administrator was hardly contested. He was by far the best public speaker out of any and all that had come forth before him, and he flaunted this whenever he could. His speeches, whilst not being the best they could have been, were delivered flawlessly and tugged on the strings of the populace of City 18's hearts on more than one occasion. Fear and compassion were both powerful tools in the hand of a civil admin. It took only three months for Leon to attain the rank of Head Civil Administrator of City 18. While initially hated by many – painted as a figure-head for the Combine's oppression in the Sector – some came to see Leon as as much of a human as any of them. He only wanted as good a future as he could manage in these dark times. He went through his fair share of assistants, but the one that stood out to him the most was perhaps Colin McKenzie, a middle-aged Scottish loyalist with a quick tongue and a mind with the potential to turn the city around. This young man was later to become Leon's most trusted adviser after Robert Grale's demise, and eventually to take up a seat beside him as Vice Civil Administrator in the years nearing the first Uprising. A number of assassination attempts were made on Dr. Faucet, none of them succeeding. The closest Leon came to falling victim was during a meeting with the Sector Commander, where he was struck in the right shoulder with a high-caliber sniper round, a wound from which he never physically recovered. Thanks to the quick response and initiative of ADRENALINE units on-scene, tragedy was avoided. The shooter was never found. October 8th, 2016's Security Breach On October the 8th, 2016 the most catastrophic event in the history of the Civil Administration occurred. While Leon and Robert were in a meeting an unidentified person launched a hack into the Civil Administration database and received key military documents from within. By the time internal security was alerted the perpetrator had already locked down the system from within, and seemed aware of Leon's attempts to try and minimize the changes made to the system from his own terminal in his office. It came as a complete surprise when the hacker managed to overload the office's terminal to the point where it exploded. Faucet and Grale were both rushed to the emergency wing, but not before an unidentified shooter landed a shot on Grale's neck with a sniper rifle as he crossed the catwalk linking his office to the inner Nexus. The shot narrowly avoided an artery and Grale was forced to speak with the assistance of a vocoder for the rest of his days. The lost documents were never recovered and intsec's numerous inquiries returned no explanation to how this could have happened. Relationships Most of Faucet's relationships were artificial. Purely business-related. The few close relationships Leon did have were with members of the Civil Administration team he worked intimately with; men like Robert Grale and Colin McKenzie. Even then he never opened up to them about any more pressing issues on his mind, lest he show any signs of wear or weakness on his mind only growing older with time. He wouldn't allow himself to get hurt again; lose another friend. Later Days and Demise After the first City 18 Uprising Faucet was re-assigned to City 10, where he served as Head of Domestic Affairs for a number of months. By the time the issues in City 10 had been dealt to and Faucet had no futher reason to remain, he was re-established in City 18 and demoted from Head of Administration to head of Civil Affairs. Though these two jobs had no real dissimilarities, the hit on his ego was enough to knock Faucet of his self-inflated throne. He was getting old, and passed the majority of his duties onto his Vice Administrator, McKenzie. As time passed he gave fewer and fewer public addresses, finding himself returning to a state of wild depression. Even when he was called to take charge of a developing anti-citizenry situation in the city he thrust the task upon McKenzie, who handled it with supreme care and initiative. Thorn may have been the biggest name in the Resistance since Thomas Mason, but even this was not enough to inspire Leon to place himself at the top of the administrative pedestal as he once had. Faucet was caught between a rock and a hard place as the second Uprising came to fruition in City 18. There was no reason to flee – it would only have caused more problems that it would have solved. Instead, Leon Faucet remained with the rest of the Sector Authority Board and tried his best to minimize the anger generated by the throng of violent citizens carving their way through the city. In the end, Faucet's efforts were in vain and he was taken prisoner by the Resistance. He was hanged before the heads of Lambda at an undisclosed location at an unknown point in time after the city was completely taken. It is said that his final words were, as he stood before the noose, "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." Category:Characters Category:City 18 Characters